The Last Days Of The Eldar
by TheEgoRaptor
Summary: Naruto joins in on the Mass Effect 3 story, but with a twist. Naruto / Mass Effect 3 / Warhammer 40k Crossover. Strong/Serious Naruto, pairing undicided  If Any, suggestions Welcome
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Warhammer, or Mass Effect, this is a non profit fan fiction.**

**Just wanted to start off by saying that this is indeed a Naruto and Mass Effect crossover fan fiction, but to make things make more sense (mainly in my opinion XD) I will be adding Warhammer 40k fluff in here as well to explain Naruto, and yeah he's an alien but a very human like alien. All will be explain in the next few chapters. **

**Remember I would be very great full if you manage to read and review this.**

Shepard could only watch with a small smile playing across his well worn and rough face as he watched the child play far below in a small garden area. The way he ran around carelessly with his Alliance Fighter model, possibly pretending or wishing to one day pilot such a vessel of his own. Though he knew it was only natural for a child, Shepard found it hard to believe that someone could be so carefree in such a hostile galaxy. One tends to have a bleak outlook on life most of the time when they know that everything they have come to take for granted will soon come to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Shepard knew that it was his burden to carry, but to know what was coming and look around and see nothing being made ready was almost too much to bear.

Shepard forced himself away from the window at the sound of the door of his room opening. Walking calmly and confidently into his room was none other than James Vega, the incredibly muscled Marine that had been assigned as Shepard's liaison for the past few days. James stopped a few feet short of Shepard before executing a perfect salute, in respect of Shepard's predisposed rank.

"Commander." He stated evenly. Shepard offered a small smile, although he didn't look it, James was always a 'by-the-book' type of guy, never really going out of his way to speak to anyone he didn't need to.

"You know you're not supposed to call me that anymore James, I'm not Commander Shepard anymore." Said Shepard with a small chuckle. James didn't show any obvious outward reaction, though Shepard's trained eye noticed that it slightly irked James that a 'Superior-Officer' had called him by his first name instead of Lieutenant. He quickly recovered though.

"Not supposed to salute you either, we've gotta go, Defence Committee says they want to see you, now." All thoughts of further joking were swept aside at this new development. Quickly discarding a data pad the he himself didn't know when he had picked up, Shepard followed James outside and into the hallway. Almost immediately Shepard was taken aback with the sheer amount of activity going on outside of his room. Military personnel and aides hurried about in different directions, the voices of dozens of frantic people all flowed into one, incoherent mass of noise.

"What's going on James, everyone seems a bit busier than usual." said Shepard, his mind racing at the possibilities of what this could mean. They couldn't be here yet, could they? No! Someone would have told him by now if they were.

"Couldn't say, just got told that they needed you, and soon." replied the stoic James. Shepard managed a quick nod before starting to walk on ahead to catch up to James, only to stop in his tracks almost immediately sporting and ear to ear grin. Anderson, possibly Shepard's greatest friend was making a beeline straight to him.

"Anderson!" He exclaimed before tightly grasping the offered him in a furious handshake. James only managed to stand ramrod straight giving a tight salute.

"You're looking good Shepard, if only a little soft around the edges since I last saw you." said Anderson with a chuckle. Shepard just laughed, patting his stomach, unconsciously making sure that Anderson wasn't joking.

"How have you been holding up ever since being relieved from duty?" queried Anderson. Shepard managed a weak laugh.

"Can't complain, it's not so bad after you get used to the hot food and soft beds." Anderson smiled in return.

"Don't worry, we'll get it all sorted out soon." Although Anderson sounded extremely calm, Shepard still had to ask.

"What's going on? Why is everyone in such a hurry?"

"I just got word from Admiral Hacket, he's mobilizing the fleets, I'm sure word has made it to Alliance Command by now. Something big is headed our way Shepard."

Shepard came to a dead stop, not wanting to believe what he had just heard. He was almost too afraid to ask.

"The Reapers?"

Almost unnoticeably, Anderson stiffened at the question, it seemed be didn't want to believe it either, but then again, who would?

"We don't know, not for certain." If anyone else other that Anderson had said that him, Shepard would have been hard pressed not to laugh in his face.

"What else could it be?"

"If I knew that..." Anderson said, letting his words hang for a little.

"You know if it is them we're not ready, not by a long shot." replied Shepard.

"Tell that to the defence committee." said Anderson.

"Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death, the committee is a waste of time. We need to get something done now." shot back Shepard, surprising himself slightly at the sound of anger creeping into his voice. Anderson simply sighed.

"They're just scared, none of them have seen what you've seen, we've all reviewed your reports, seen the data you collected, but it's all just theory to them, me I believe you Shepard. You've been there, in the trenches, fighting them, you know what they're capable of."

Shepard scoffed slightly. "Is that why they grounded me? Took away my ship so I couldn't stir up any more trouble for them?"

Anderson rounded on him immediately, pointing at him accusingly. " You know that's not true, the shit you've done, any other soldier would've been tried, court marshalled and discharged. It's your knowledge of the reapers that kept that from happening, they know that they need you if things go south."

James sat off nervously to the sidelines, feeling slightly vexed at being so close to the two means argument.

"That and your good word?" Countered Shepard. Anderson seemed to calm himself down quietly berating himself on such a childish argument with a long time friend.

"Yeah, I trust you Shepard you know that and so does the committee." Shepard choked down a laugh.

"I'm a soldier Anderson, just a very skilled grunt, I'm not a politician." Despite himself, Anderson met Shepard's smile with one of his own.

"I don't need you to be either Shepard, I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to stop the Reapers." With that said, Anderson started to walk off, Shepard turned back to see if James was still with them in case he had decided to leave when Anderson had started to do his job for him.

That's when he saw it, though if you asked him, he would never be able to tell you exactly what it was because he wasn't sure himself. It was as if something was ghosting them, he could feel it. It was like an itch that couldn't be scratched, it was there but it wasn't. Every time he was sure he had caught a glimpse of it, it would disappear away into the air. It was like a small ripple in the air, like heat waves you could see in the distance on a hot day, but that couldn't be right it was quite cool inside the Alliance Command building. He was violently pulled out of his thought process by Anderson's hand pulling on his shoulder.

"What is it Shepard?" asked Anderson, sounding slightly worried himself.

"I, I'm not sure. I know it sounds crazy but I think someone is following us. Someone who doesn't want to be seen." He managed to explain. Anderson looked at him sceptically for a second before brushing it off quickly.

"Don't worry Shepard, it's just nerves getting to you. Besides if someone cloaked had entered the building and breached this far they would have set off over a dozen different alarms."

Shepard finally, after a few moments of deep thought, managed to move himself from his rooted position and follow Anderson once more, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, by something that should not be there.

Rounding a corner further down the hall they came to a larger room. Off to the sides, military staff ran their hands across holographic key boards furiously, trying to cope with the incoming data. Men and women rushed about the place on errands unknown, but they all shared one thing in common. They all seemed worried about something, as if the data they were transporting had impart some portion of knowledge onto them, something they wish they had never known.

"Their expecting the two of you Admiral." Said a female officer before quickly moving on again. Shepard turned to say goodbye to James, knowing he might not see him again, all depending what happened in the next few minutes. He offered out his hand to the Marine, noticing his reluctance to act so casually with a Superior Officer, but he took the hand nonetheless.

"Keep yourself safe James, these are some strange times." said Shepard.

"You too Commander, good luck in there." replied James.

Behind Shepard, Anderson was having a small conversation with an aide, before an old friend decided to make an appearance. A woman wearing a tight, light blue body suit, sporting a small skirt section along with hardened, raised shoulder pads. She wore her long black hair out, with a small portion of the left side of her face covered. She carried herself with a sense of authority as well as grace. She was Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams.

"Anderson!" she called out happily, causing the Admiral to turn and identify the caller. That was when she saw him, even though it was only the back of his head, she was sure. She had followed him to hell and back on more than one occasion. It warmed her heart to finally see him again, their last encounter of Horizon still leaving a foul taste in her mouth.

"Shepard!" The sudden use of his name caused the man to turn, when he identified the one who called his name, his smile was almost instantaneous.

"Ashley?" he asked, even though he knew who it was already. Their small revelry a seeing each other again was cut short by Anderson.

"Lt. Commander, how'd it go in there?" he asked, referring to the woman's earlier meeting with the committee. She managed a small sigh of exasperation.

"I can never tell with them, I'm just waiting for orders now."

The same aide from before walked up again, she seemed more hurried, almost as if her career was riding on getting Anderson and Shepard into the committee now. Politicians, Shepard laughed to himself, they always think they are the centre of the universe.

"Admiral." She said, sound much more insistent this time around." Anderson simply nodded to her showing his acceptance of the situation. It seemed to put her at ease. Anderson made a curt nod to Ashley before walking past her towards the doors into the Committee chambers. As he walked past, Shepard gave Ashley a warm smile, the same smile that had seen her melt under his gaze dozens of times over. She managed to return it but with a somewhat small blush on her cheeks.

When Anderson and Shepard walked through the large automatic doors they closed almost immediately after, but it still wasn't quick enough to stop the passage of a small, almost infinitesimal blur, nothing but the most advanced security camera's would ever be able to pick it up, something that Alliance Command was known to house, but the time for concern of detection had long since passed.

When they walked through the door and into the committee room, Shepard was almost literally given the spotlight. All activity in the room stopped in the span of five seconds, men and women stopped work at his arrival, all clearly eager to watch the proceedings that were soon to follow. Massive television and computer screens dominated the side walls of the room, a stark contrast to the enormous window at the far end of the room which acted as the sole source of natural light for the vast space. The view was stunning, Vancouver was one of Shepard's favourite places on Earth. Growing up in the slums of New York made a person think that anything was better but Vancouver was a thing a beauty. The extravagant curves of the towering skyscrapers, showing evident influence of Asari architecture in their wondrous designs.

An imposing desk sat near the end of the room, some ten metres wide, clearly where the Committee would be sitting, and true enough to Shepard's thoughts, three figures slowly made their way towards the table, two men and a slightly elderly woman.

They each sat with poised grace, holding an air of authority about them, like someone who got their own way enough to think it was deserved, something Shepard despised.

The bald man at the centre cleared his throat in preparation to speak, and it seemed that everyone in the room was sitting on the edge of their seats, already hanging on words not yet spoken.

"Admiral Anderson, Shepard, it's good to see you." he said, his voice conveying a sense of respect towards the two great men standing in front of him. Shepard didn't want to play around, he had to know if what he thought was true, though his truly wished it wasn't.

"What's the situation? What's going on?" he said. The woman on the right spoke up next as an aide walked up to Shepard and handed him a data pad with countless articles of data streaming down, impossible to read it all in such a short period of time.

"To tell the truth, we were hoping you would tell us." She said, and although she tried, she failed the fully hide the worry from entering her tone of voice. The man on the far left picked up where his fellow Defence Minister left off.

" The reports coming in are unlike anything we've ever seen. Entire colonies have gone dark, we've lost contact with everything beyond the Sol relay." Shepard fought to hold onto the data pad, it almost slipped from his grasp at that last announcement. He didn't want to believe it, he didn't want it to be happening, not yet, they weren't even close to being ready, and just when the Alliance was starting to trust him and take his claims seriously. The man in the middle nodded his agreement with the Minister to his right.

"Whatever it is, it's incomprehensibly powerful." Shepard had to steel himself for what he had to say next because they were words he never wanted to hear or say himself.

"You've brought me here to confirm what you already know, what I've been trying to tell you for the past 6 months. The Reapers are here."

His statement was not meet graciously. Off to the sides of the room, frantic shouts and horrified murmurs broke out amongst the war hardened men and women. The Defence Ministers themselves shared a look with each other before giving a slight nod, they had to wait a few moments for the sounds of scared people to subside. The female minister spoke up, but her tone had changed dramatically, no longer was it the voice of a strong leader, now it sounded more like a two week rookie on their first tour.

"Then how do we stop them?" She asked nervously. Shepard almost scoffed at the question.

"Stop them? This isn't about tactics or strategies, this is about survival. The Reapers are more advance then we are, more powerful, more intelligent. They don't fear us, and they will never take pity on us."

"But there must be some way..." she let her words hang, expecting Shepard to answer. If he was completely honest with himself, it was not a question that he had a definitive answer to. In fact it was the one question that he had asked himself over and over again. How do you defeat a fore such as the Reapers? He was sure that countless other Galactic Civilisations had fallen before the Reapers. Who was to say that this would be the first time they were defeated, that they meet a challenge that even they couldn't stand up to. Every time he asked himself the question, his train of thoughts would always end up at the same place. Thinking back to those times, he had his answer. He moved forwards getting himself within a few metres of the Minister's desk, staring each of them in the eye one at a time before speaking.

"If we are going to have any chance of surviving this, of truly defeating the Reapers, then there's only one thing we can do. We all have to stand together, put aside petty differences and take the fight to the Reapers." his words were spoken with true conviction, even managing to calm some of the more scared individuals in the room. The centre minister who seemed to be the senior, both by age and experience, looked Shepard in the eye critically, as if to see if he himself believed the rousing words he had just spoken. Finding no lie is Shepard's eye, he spoke up, deadpanning the thoughts of the remaining two ministers.

"That's it? That's our best plan?" The ministers words hung in the air like a stale smell, no one commented, Shepard couldn't think of anything else to say, he had nothing else to say, what could he. There was no logical means to fight the Reapers, they were simply too powerful. Luckily for him the need to speak any more was dealt with for him.

"That, Minister, is the only option available to us. The Reapers have taken other form of response from us." The words were carried throughout the entire chamber, so well heard in every corner of the room that it was impossible to pinpoint the speaker. Almost infuriated by the sudden interruption in their conversation, the leading Minister rose from his seat, his face red, awash with anger.

"Who said that? Identify yourself!"

Almost immediately, the fuming Ministers question was answered. In the space between Shepard and the three ministers, a figure began to take shape. It was obvious that whoever it was had been using a cloak of some kind, Shepard was well versed in the use of cloaks due to being designated as an Infiltrator by Alliance Military, but he had never seen a cloak that was so absolutely perfect. The synthetic implants granted to him by Cerberus during his reconstruction had allowed him to spot a cloaked enemy almost immediately, but this was different. Someone had been standing not 3 metres in front of him and he had not been able to see it. The transition of the figure's cloaked state to that of visibility was seamless. Gasps could be heard throughout the room when people got a good look at the figure.

The figure was revealed to be that of a man, slightly taller than that of the average person and incredibly lean and slender, but despite his fragile build he exuded an almost palpable aura of strength. He wore a form fitting white and black combat suit that left none of his neck showing, the shoulder pads, gauntlets and boot were all made of a strange looking white ceramic material thought he bulk of his outfit was comprised of cloth, but it looked denser than normal fabrics.

Emblazoned upon his right breast and belt was a golden stylised eye, outlined in a deep blue shedding a single tear of beautiful cerulean. On the left portion of his upper arm was a collection of strange symbols etched into the fabric of his combat suit in exquisite stitching. Though it was what was placed upon his cheat that drew attention. A beautifully smooth, red gem stone, easily the size of Shepard's fist, was fixed to the centre of his chest. The gem itself was inwardly lit by glowing, and seemingly moving, specks of orange light. On his back he sported a pair of sleek and archaic swords that seemed to hum with energy, their edges faintly glowing white.

His features were patrician and extremely elegant, in simple terms, one could say that he was beautiful, he didn't look a day over 25. He sported a set of face plates that covered his lower jaw either side of his mouth and chin, looking strangely similar to the new Delumcore Overlay system Shepard had read about on the extranet, though this man's was obviously more advanced and streamlined. It featured a built in communications system as well.

His eyes were a vibrant, bright blue, perfectly contrasted by his creamy yellow head of close cropped hair. That's when Shepard saw it and he inwardly cursed himself for not noticing it sooner, the man's ears, while only slightly, came to a prominent point. It was then that it hit Shepard, it had taken him a while but he had added it all up. The strange clothes, the odd weapons, the height and un-naturally slender build, and the ... pointy ears, this man was not human at all.

People around the room quickly returned to their senses from their surprised daze and it seemed that everyone that had a weapon, was training it directly at the man. It was the man's un natural calm in the situation that confused him, there would have to be at least thirty weapons pointed at him and he didn't seem slightly phased. Was he that confident in his abilities? Shepard almost failed to see the small smile that was shown on the man's features.

"That would be Minister, but I apologise, I meant no disrespect. I was merely agreeing with Commander Shepard on his plan against the Reapers." he spoke utterly calm, his voice serene, influential, dangerous. Anderson was the first to formulate a reply.

"Who, or what, are you?" The man turned to regard Anderson displaying a genuine smile, one that someone would give to a friend or someone who they wished to know as one.

"Admiral Anderson, a pleasure to final meet you in person, I have heard much about you and your exploits. Though as the matter of your questions, they are both unimportant and presented at the wrong time, there is not nearly enough time for me to explain. But I digress, we have much more pressing matters at hand. As Commander Shepard just stated the Reapers are definitely here."

The Ministers looked ready to ask their own questions but they were immediately interrupted. A ranking communications officer off to the left side of the room spoke up.

"Admiral, we've lost contact with Lunar Base." she said worriedly.

Anderson tore his gaze away from the new arrival to regard the Ministers.

"The moon? They couldn't be that close already." He said, not believing what he was hearing. The female Minister echoed his thoughts.

"How did they get past our defences?" she asked rhetorically. The communications officer spoke up again before more conversation could start.

"Sir, UK headquarters has a visual." That got everyone's attention, they all looked up to regard one of the massive computer screens mounted on the wall.

An image quickly formed on the screen. A soldier was standing on camera wearing full battle gear. It took a few instants for the sound to catch up but when it did it was terribly. The soldier was clearly trying to speak but his words were garbled and distorted by interference. Explosions rocked the camera, flames dominated the space behind the man, pieces of stone and dirt were being thrown around in the background. There was a sudden loud noise, like that of a low orchestral gong accompanied by a quick flash of red before the signal was cut out completely, the soldiers last words would never be heard.

People all around the room were suddenly on their feet, eyes glued to the screen and expressions of horror playing out upon their faces. The screen quickly faded out to an image of a large city being ravaged the huge and mentally imposing figure of a Reaper. It's laser weaponry lashed out across the buildings like the judgemental fingers of an angry god. The first video was soon accompanied by another, and another until at least a dozen different scenes were being played out across the sing screen. Shepard looked over by chance and thought he saw the unidentified humanoid almost on the verge of tears. The different range of emotions being played out on his face and in his eyes was moving. To see someone of a different species so affected by Earth's destruction was not something he thought he would see so vividly.

Anderson was once again the first to break the silence. "Why haven't we heard from Admiral Hacket?" No one seemed to be able to answer him. The leading Minister was the next to speak, seemingly directing his words at Shepard, ignoring the arrival of an un known alien for the time being.

"What do we do?" he asked in desperation. Shepard was for one of the few times in his life at a loss for words. He was hoping that they would have more time than this, more time to prepare, but that liberty was taken away from them now. He rounded on the Ministers and walked purposely towards them.

"We do the only thing we can do, we fight, or we die." Though the Ministers made no reply it was evident that they didn't like it. They all shared worried glances at one another, all unsure as to what to do. Anderson made his way over to Shepard, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"We should get to the Normandy." He suggested. This idea however, was shot down by the unidentified man.

"There is no time to make a safe extraction." he said without even bothering to look at them.

"What makes you say that?" inquired Shepard, curious as to what he meant. The man didn't bother with a reply he simply raised his hand and point out the window towards the sky. Everybody followed his directions to see a terrible sight.

"My god..." breathed the female Minister.

The sky outside had darkened considerably since the start of the meeting. A think grey cloud hung over the city outside, arcs or insidious red lightning crackled across the underside of the cloud before it came. Quickly falling from within the cloud came a Reaper and like the crushing hand of god, it smote the cityscape with its landing. Smaller building were crushed completely by the Reapers massive legs while towers were toppled, sent sprawling to the ground below. The 'face' of the Reaper, if it could be called that, seemed to turn to regard the building they were currently in. That was when they heard it, the sound from the video earlier, like that of a gong. The underside of the Reaper started to glow a bright red, and that was when Shepard understood what the sound heralded, the attack of a Reaper.

"Get back from the window! Now!" Screamed the man, clearly knowing what was about to happen, but it was too late, the laser flew from the Reaper and struck the massive glass window, vaporising most it whilst the remaining glass fragmented inwards, shedding the ministers and closer staff. The blast lifted the massive desk up into the air and threw if towards everyone else. People ducked for cover but for them it was too late, large portion of the roof were collapsing as well. Shepard, Anderson and the humanoid managed to duck under to avoid the desk but the concussive aftermath of the explosion sent him flying sideways into the far wall. He tried to fight it but was quickly pulled into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The Following is a fan based fiction, Naruto, Mass Effect and Warhammer are all owned by ****Masashi Kishimoto, Bioware and Games Wordshop. Please Support the Official Release.**

**AN: Thanks for all the positive reviews guys it's really a nice thing to see. Now onto business. A few of you have made suggestions as to pairings, if you'd like it would help me out greatly if you PM'd me or just put an explanation of your reasons why and how you think those pairings could be achieved.**

**Now I know it may be a fair bit off in the story, as I'm planning to write a chapter for every mission my Shepard plays in the game, but I would like you're thoughts on what you would like to see done with the ending. I know that there has been a big hubbub about the ending going on all over the internet, and I wanted to know what you want to see at the ending of this fan fiction. Now this is something that I would like PM'd to me as it could spoil it for other readers. Just outline what you would like to see and why, and if there are any plot holes or anything of that sort you would like to see answered just tell me them and how you would like them addressed in the PM. **

**As you can tell I'm trying to make this fan fiction something you guys, as the readers, can have a say about, if there is something you want to see then just tell me and I will try be best to put it in there.**

**Now enough of my rant, enjoy this chapter and remember to review and send me those PM's. Cheers. **

The embrace of unconsciousness was not something Shepard had experienced many times, but it was never a pleasant experience for him. Random flashes of distant memories plagued him. The death of Matriarch Benezia, the tears he saw from Liara that day was something he could not bear to see again, but it had to be done. She was indoctrinated, an unwilling servant of the Reapers just like Saren, she had begged for release before the end. Shepard had grown up without knowing the love of a parent, he never knew what happened to them, probably dead he suspected. Growing up in New York had been hard, but in his opinion, a rewarding experience. It had built character, cultivated the mental state that he had needed in the Military, it had prepared him somewhat for the shocking truth of a hostile galaxy.

Those images soon faded, coalescing once more into another depressing moment of his life. Horizon. He had met with Ashley there once again, though it had not been the reunion that he had been hoping for. He still loved her, and probably always would. What they had shared before Illos had been on the best days of his life. She didn't like the fact that he was working with Cerberus, and she blamed him for it. Words were not able to sway her and she left in a fit of sadness and anger in equal measures. Shepard had gone into a depressive state for the next few days until he received word from Ashley again. She had apologised for her harsh words and sought to make up. Shepard had never been happier.

Now though, all that could be taken away from him, the Reapers were here, attacking Earth as he lay on the broken floor of the committee room. Those thoughts were part of the reason for his awakening.

"Shepard! Shepard!" He could faintly hear, Anderson was calling out to him. He to sit up on his own but the pain in his head was too much for him at the moment. It felt like he had been on the tequila all night only to bit kicked in the head by a horse afterwards, not a pleasant feeling at all. He suddenly felt slender has envelop his right wrist, hauling him off the ground slowly as if trying to make the ascent as comfortable for the battered man as possible. When he finally opened his eyes he was face to face with the unidentified man. He was smiling down at Shepard, some 10cm taller than him. Anderson finally made it over to Shepard and the man.

"Shepard, are you alright?" he asked, genuinely worried for his friend. Shepard waved off his worries.

"I'm fine Anderson," he said before looking over to the humanoid, "Thank you, if you hadn't warned us I don't think we would've been able to dodge that desk, pretty heavy." he said with a small chuckle, and it was returned by a friendly smile.

"No thanks is necessary Commander, you are too important do die here now, and besides I have been looking forward to meet you for some time now."

"Please just Shepard, you don't need to be so formal, but what can we call you? You know us but we don't know you." inquired Shepard. The man's seemed to widen slightly as if remembering something important.

"Oh yes, pardon me I tend to get carried away. My name is Athiel Nwaen though I understand that will be difficult for humans to pronounce so you can call me Naruto if you cannot say my true name. It is a name I have carried for a while now." he said. Anderson seemed to baulk at the thought of pronouncing that name but Shepard didn't find it that difficult.

"Athiel is fine for me, but I have to ask, what did you mean I'm too important to die here now?" Asked Shepard. Athiel seemed genuinely surprised that Shepard had been able to pronounce his name properly and so was Anderson for that matter.

"Ah, it must be the Prothean Cipher you received on Feros, and I meant what I said. Your experience of fighting Reaper forces as well as your reputation will be key to the war effort." said Athiel. Anderson regarded him with a critical eye.

"How do you know about Shepard getting the Cipher? Only a very few in the Alliance know about it." Once again Athiel regarded Anderson with a friendly smile.

"If you ever get to know me Anderson, you will learn that I know far more than you can comprehend, but once again we are going off on a tangent. We need to reach your ship, the Normandy." Anderson seemed to accept the answer for the time being.

"Here take this." he said as he offered Shepard a Predator heavy pistol. Shepard took the proffered weapon with a small muttering in thanks. He went to offer Athiel one as well but his offer was turned down when Athiel procured a smaller and elegant pistol from this thigh, Shepard noticed that it was much slimmer than the Predator being offered to him but he was sure that it was no less deadly, you can never be too sure with alien tech.

"I suggest we use the window, you don't want to know what will be back the way you came, trust me." said Athiel. Not wanting to argue, both Shepard and Anderson made their way towards the now completely blow out window. Not far down from the ledge was a series of wide beams that led up and around the building. Shepard and Anderson took the fall as well as they could, grunting as their knees fought against the sudden drop but Athiel, that was a sight indeed. He simply stepped of the ledge as if without a care in the world. His hands and feet suddenly began to glow a dull blue, seemingly slowing his descent before landing gracefully next to Shepard who chuckled softly.

"Damn Biotics, all ways cheating." Athiel looked over to him and rubbed the back of his sheepishly with a large grin on his face.

"Hey, if you get the chance you've got to show off." he said before turning his gaze out onto the city. Across the harbour a Reaper was systematically destroying the cityscape, decades of work and construction was being brought down within minutes.

"This is exactly what I was trying to avoid." Shepard heard Athiel mutter.

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked. As if not knowing he had said it allowed, Athiel quickly recovered.

"A story for another time Shepard but now we must be off." he said.

"He's right Shepard, Ashley is headed to the space port, we only have to get there and it's a straight run to the Normandy. Let's move." said Anderson, and with that they were off, close to sprinting along the wide beam towards the far end of the building.

They didn't make it far before a stray reaper beam struck the building about 30 metres ahead of them causing large chunks of masonry to be thrown up in the air before plummeting to the ground below, flattening cars and small buildings.

"Up this way." Athiel called out before making his way up a steeper part of the beam and on to the level above. Ahead of them they could see where the Reaper's attack had scarred the building. A 3 metre gap in the beam they were walking on. Athiel simply sped up.

"Come on take a running jump, don't want you falling!" he yelled before leaping the distance with ease, landing with a poised roll before scanning the area ahead of him with his pistol.

Shepard and Anderson soon made their way across the gap as well joining Athiel. Shepard was a bit confused as to why he seemed so on edge, training his pistol on the areas ahead of them searching for a target. What sort of target was he looking for? That's when he remembered. Sovereign had been on Eden Prime and with him came scores of husks, the grunt of the Reaper army. He certainly didn't want to run into many more of them.

"How can we stop something so powerful. They broke through our orbital defences like they were nothing, and it took the entire Council fleet along with most of the Alliance fleet just to take down Sovereign." Anderson exclaimed.

"Hope and courage Anderson, they are your best weapons for now. Every foe can be defeated, you just have to learn how." Stated Athiel calmly.

"If you say so." replied Anderson.

Not far ahead of them the beam suddenly stopped, dropping down a level to another beam. This time Athiel tried not to show off, simply landing beside Shepard without the biotic theatrics. They continued at a soft jog but were stopped abruptly by a loud. Turning around they saw an Alliance Fighter, like the model the child had been playing with earlier, screech across the sky. It's aft section shot out a large billow of smoke and flames, pursuing it was a trio of Reaper fighters, small and round but still extremely deadly. The lead Reaper took another shot at the Alliance fighter, it's weapon a downsized version used by the full size Reapers, it struck the wounded fighter on the starboard wing causing it to roll out of control before slamming into the side of a tall building, its drive core going up in an epic fireball.

"It's hard, isn't it Shepard." said Athiel, without even turning his gaze from the fiery wreckage.

"What is?" asked Shepard, not following what Athiel meant.

"To know that most of this could have been averted, if they had only listened to you, if they had only believed you. Civilians could have been evacuated to other colonies, the Citadel even, and Earth could have been turned into a planet wide military installation. Millions of lived could have been saved, if they had only heeded your warnings earlier." Shepard paused, not knowing what to say. Sure he had thought about it, what more he could have done or said to have made them believe him.

"Who would want to believe it?" he said, "To know that an enemy like the Reapers are coming for you, that most of us would die. It's not something I would want to believe." Athiel finally regarded Shepard, and the commander had seen that look before. It was the look of someone who had been through hell and back many times over but had come out of it all the wiser.

"I suppose you are right Shepard, neither would I at first, but I would not have sat quiet for so long with such damning evidence thrown at my feet. But that is enough of these dour words, we must make haste to the Normandy." Both Shepard and Anderson, the latter of whom had been listening intently to the conversation, nodded in agreement and set off behind Athiel. Anderson quickly took the lead again guiding them over to a small ladder going up another floor.

"Come on, we'll have to go up here there's no other way." he said before climbing swiftly. His two followers climbed up after him and were greeted with a large roof stretching off a few dozen metres into the distance. Air conditioning boxes and vents littered the roof and raised air ducts ran the horizontal length of the building, providing perfect cover if they were to come under fire, they all hoped it wouldn't come to that.

They all took cover behind an air duct while Anderson scanned for enemies, finding none he ordered them forward.

"It looks clear, we should hurry now." he said before vaulting the duct and making his was down the slopped roof towards the roof of a catwalk that linked the building they were standing on to another not far away. About halfway down Anderson tapped the radio in his ear.

"Lt. Commander, it's Anderson do you read? I'm going to patch in Shepard and someone else."

At first they were greeted by nothing but strange static, probably the result of the Reaper's attempt at jamming their radio signals, but soon came the voice of Ashley.

"Admiral, we've almost made it to the Normandy, I managed to bring Lt. Vega and a few Marines with me but we're taking heavy fire." she said, her voice slightly distorted and choppy.

"Just hold the line a little longer Lt. Commander, we're about five minutes out, we'll be with you soon." replied Anderson. Any attempt at a response from Ashley was cut off by a loud burst of static.

"Say again, we didn't get that. Lt. Commander? Damn it we lost them. Let's go we've got to get to the Normandy." said Anderson. They had a clear run for a while until they vaulted another duct about halfway across the catwalk.

"Husks!" called out Anderson before running up to take a firing position, his two followers not far behind. From down below a group of about 10 husks were managing to scale the building vertically, using their Reaper tech enhanced strength.

To say that Shepard and Anderson were curious as to how well Athiel's pistol would work was an understatement, something Athiel himself didn't fail to miss. The husks were still too far away from them to do any harm so Athiel decided to play along.

"You want to see what it can do don't you? Well I'll get the first few and you get the rest ok?" He said with a playful chuckle. Shepard and Anderson both nodded in assent before watching Athiel raise his pistol and take aim on the leading husk. What happened next was not what they had expected.

When Athiel finally depressed the trigger there was a very keen sound, short bursts of noise accompanied the firing of the pistol. From the one shot, a score of objects were sent hurtling towards the Husk, like small needles, riding on jet streams of bright white light. When the needles struck the Husk the effect was devastating. It's body was completely eviscerated and shredded beyond recognition. What was left of the Husk fell down to the streets far below. Before Shepard or Anderson even had time to ask questions the next 3 Husks met similar fates. Finally breaking from their stupor, they raised their pistols and added to the hail of rounds picking off husks one at a time with well placed shots. It wasn't long before all of the Husks had fallen and they were ready to advance. The only way forward they could see was down a nearby ladder that lead to a small balcony overlooking the ravaged city below. On their way to the ladder Shepard fell in to step beside Athiel.

"You really meant it when you said you like to show off didn't you?" he asked. Athiel let out a small chuckle.

"Like I said before, If you get the chance, do it." he said. They were pulled from their joking by the roar of another group of husks, climbing up and over the edge of the balcony not 10 metres away, there were 7 of them. Both Shepard and Anderson panicked.

"I'm out of ammo!" yelled Anderson.

"Same here, I got nothing, what about you Athiel?" asked Shepard.

"I've got a few shots left but I don't want to waste them just, don't worry I'll take care of them." he said casually before reaching back and taking one of the swords from his back. With his thumb he pressed a small stud on the handle of the blade. That's when it started. The blade started to glow, emitting a constant hum accompanied by a quite screech. Shepard had never seen anything like it, it was almost as if the blade itself was alive, crying out in joy. Athiel walked slowly towards the Husks that were quickly making their way towards him. When the first came within range Athiel struck out, the Husk's head slid cleanly from its shoulders, a jet of blueish black blood streamed from its stump of a neck. The second fell similarly, the third was cut from head to groin. Athiel made quick work of the remaining Husks, stabbing hearts of slitting throats. His movements were graceful and practiced. Shepard likened it to an intricate dance, the dance of death as it were.

When the last Husk fell Athiel produced a cloth from his belt and wiped his blade clean before re-attaching it to his back. He turned, noticing the impressed looks on the faces of both Anderson and Shepard. He smiled and gave a mock bow before gesturing towards a door to his right, the only clear way forward.

"Shall we?" he asked, biting back a laugh. Shepard managed a small laugh before he was cut off by a sound he really didn't want to hear again. The Reaper at the far side of the harbour must have learned that they were there from the Husks Athiel just killed because it was charging an attack. Athiel managed to get a few feet away from the building to his right before it went up in a fiery explosion, it's glass windows shattering outwards with an ear splitting crash. The trio picked managed t pick themselves off the ground, getting away with just a few scratches. The Reaper seemed to think that one blast was enough because thankfully it didn't attack twice.

They all walked into the building to see if there was still a way out, luckily there was, a door on the far side of the room was still working if only a little jammed. Shepard took the lead, walking towards the door carefully. Just as he was about to try and pry the door open a Husk burst through, opening the jammed door with brute strength. The door seemed to be wedging the Husk in place and Shepard took advantage of it, activating his new Omni-Blade he thrust the glowing weapon at the Husk, completely destroying it's chest. What remained of the Husk fell backwards through the door way leaving a small gap where it had been stuck. Shepard managed to open the door wide enough for Anderson and Athiel to duck under his arm and through the doorway.

Emerging on the other side Athiel saw that most of the room the now occupied had been reduced to rubble by the Reapers earlier attack, only a very narrow ledge was left for them to advance on. When they were just about to try their luck on the ledge, Anderson noticed something.

"Where's Shepard? I thought he was right behind you?" he asked. Athiel turned around searching for Shepard but couldn't find him.

"He must still be in that room back there. Do you want me to go get him?" he asked. Anderson shook his head and sighed.

"No I'll go get him." said Anderson before disappearing back into the room behind Athiel. He didn't have to wait long before Anderson returned with Shepard. Athiel couldn't help but notice the distant and depressed look in the eyes of the latter, clearly something had been done or said in that room that had gotten to Shepard.

Athiel and Anderson got to work moving some of the rubble to make the length of their ledge climb a bit smaller, they didn't want to risk taking a fall down, Shepard stayed back, ready to help when called. Anderson was the first to break the silence with an exasperated sigh.

"I hate this, it's just a god damn mess. Every minute these machines are here, thousands of innocent people are going to die. I won't be responsible, I will do something about it." he said.

"It's hard enough fighting a war with an enemy like the Reapers, but it doesn't make it any easier to know that no matter what we do and no matter how hard we try, we can save them all." said Shepard, finally breaking out of his sour mood.

"My point exactly Shepard." Replied Anderson as he ducked and crawled around pieces of masonry and metal. He was forced to lift a small metal girder to allow Shepard and Athiel passage ahead.

"They came out of nowhere, and so fast. I thought we would have more time." he said as he lifted the heavy piece of steel. Getting to the other side, Athiel bent down to help Anderson under the girder while sighing.

"You and me both Anderson, I was hoping to have more time to help Shepard convince the Defence Ministers, in the background of course but with the arrival of the Reapers I had to take more, shall we say, direct measures." That statement caused both Shepard and Anderson to pause and look to Athiel.

"You came to Earth to help me convince the Ministers about the Reapers?" asked Shepard genuinely surprised.

"In part, yes, but that is a story for another time Shepard. I promise I will answer any questions you have in the first lapse in fighting we have." promised Athiel, and Shepard noticed that whatever story he had, he didn't quite know what to tell him. He knew he would have a lot of questions for him soon. Athiel nodded in thank to Shepard for letting the subject slide for now.

"What annoys me most is that we knew they were coming, Hackett set assembled the entire Alliance Fleet even." said Shepard.

"And they still, they cut straight through our defences. How do you fight an enemy like that, nothing you prepare is ever going to be enough to hold the line?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"We need to get to the Citadel, we have to talk to the Council tell them what's going on here." said Anderson as he kneeled down to find another path through the rubble. Shepard looked to Anderson like he was joking.

"The Citadel? The fights here, why should we leave?" he asked, almost offended.

"It won't be long and the right will be everywhere Shepard," retorted Anderson. "You've told me countless time before, the Reapers have one goal, Destroy everything and Everyone. We have to stop them." said Anderson as he found a way through and started to squeeze through the narrow opening.

"The Council will help us, they have to help us." stated Anderson, through grunts of exertion.

After squeezing through the gap they finally came to a point where they could stand but they couldn't move on a head anymore without taking the ledge, the rubble was too thick ahead. Shepard scoffed.

"You sure about that? They'd probably leave us to die just to save their own asses." he said angrily.

Shepard took the lead along the ledge, going slow, not chancing a fall down into the darkness below.

"No, but you're a Spectre, that has to count for something, they have to listen to you." replied Anderson.

"Yeah they have to listen to me, but it's whether they want to help at all that is the problem." said Shepard. They moved the next few metres in silence, Athiel not wanting to intrude on two friends and their argument, it was best to let them slog it out then for him join in.

They were nearing the end of the ledge when the building started to shake, Shepard felt the brunt of the movement, starting to fall forward into nothingness. He would have if not for Anderson putting his arm out to save him from falling.

"I gotcha Shepard." he said with a small smile on his face. Shepard regained pace across the ledge quickly with a small laugh.

"Hehe, Thanks. I think I might owe you one now." he chuckled. Anderson met his laugh with one of his own.

"More than one boy." he said. The ledge finally ended and they were back in a small room again, a blow out window on the far wall seemed to be the only way to advance. Anderson noticed a few spare Thermal Clips on the ground and called out to Shepard.

"Clips. Reload we've got to keep moving." said Anderson before moving towards the window and dropping down into a small garden which led onto another beam going straight down to ground level. They were almost shook of the beam entirely when a Reaper beam struck a small island in the harbour before the Reaper itself made a landing, shattering the ground and sending large waves outwards at its impact. Shepard could understand how civilisations long before theirs had likened the Reapers to devil or the apocalypse, the very sight of a reaper so close could demoralise an army.

"God." Anderson exclaimed. "I forgot how big they really were, and Sovereign was at least twice that size." He didn't get a reply but didn't really expect one, his followers we speechless in awe regarding the Reaper with a fearful eye, or so he thought. When he looked to Athiel he noticed that the man wasn't even looking at the Reaper and he didn't even seem slightly phased, almost as if he had seen destruction on such a scale before, but what could he have seen that had rival the destruction they were witnessing now? He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and activated his radio again.

"Lt. Commander, we can see the space port now, ETA 3 minutes, how're you holding up?" he broadcasted.

The group made it to the end of the beam and around the corner before they got a reply. It seemed that they were now walking on top of the remains of a large ship mixed with the side of a building.

"We finally made it to the Normandy, but still taking heavy fire. Oh god, they're firing on the Dreadnought, it's going to come down." came the frantic reply over the radio. Directing their attention to the sky the group could see the formidable silhouette of a mighty Alliance Dreadnought firing wildly at the nearby Reaper. Said Reaper regarded the Dreadnought as a man might a fly, a pest to be dealt with. An Alliance Dreadnought was seen as the pinnacle of the Alliance Navy, the strongest weapon that could be brought to bear on Humanities many enemies, that was not enough to save it from the Reapers.

Without a second thought the Reaper struck out at the Dreadnought, catching it from bow to stern, it's powerful laser cutting through the Dreadnoughts ten metre thick armour as if it was nothing but wet tissue paper. With the power of the giant ships Mass Effect Drive Core released, it had nowhere to go but out.

"Brace yourselves! Now!" Shouted Athiel, but Shepard and Anderson could not manage to avert their gaze from the great ships destruction. An enormous flash of bright light lit up the sky, cause the trio to cover their eyes for a moment. All sounds of battle seemed to stop and that was when Shepard understood Athiel's warning. The shockwave of the gigantic explosion sped towards them, so strong that it could be seen with the naked eye. When it hit, Shepard felt like he had been hit full on by a Kodiak, the force throwing all three of them backwards into a large steel girder. In less than a second the ground underneath them began to shake and move about violently before falling out from beneath them causing them to slide brutally down the newly formed steel slope. Their sudden decline was soon ended with the ground below rushing up to meet them hard. Rolling to avoid as much of the impact as possible the three managed to pick themselves up without any serious injury.

When they had time to orientate themselves with their surroundings they found themselves almost right on top of the harbour, remnants of the building they were just on was scattered about the place, the larger pieces forming a makeshift island in the cold water. Not far ahead Shepard could make out the familiar shape of an alliance shuttle, crash landed on the island of debris.

Anderson took the lead, making his way across the debris field, having the leap a metre or two to clear a gap in the way.

"Normandy, we're going to have to re-route, the space port is a no go. You're going to have to come to us, we can't make it there now. Do you copy?" Asked Anderson into his radio. He had to wait a moment before getting a reply but was only met with garbled half words and blurts of static.

"Normandy, come in. Do you read?" he persisted. This time he was met with only silence. They soon come a ledge which dropped down a few feet, below them were two Alliance Marines, one whose legs appeared to be pinned under the weight of a somewhat thin metal beam. Dropping down, Shepard quickly went over to ask after the Marines.

"Are you two all right?" he asked.

The Marine tending to his friend looked up at Shepard sharply.

"Get down or they're going to see you." he spoke quietly but urgently. Shepard was about to ask what the Marine meant when he heard it. Guttural grunts and snorts were the first thing he could make out, looking up though he caught site of the noises origin. A group of horribly disfigured bipedal humanoid shapes reared up from feasting on what appeared to be a dead figure of their own kind. One seemed to catch sight of Shepard a let out a horrible and painful scream. It's distended mouth glowing a terrible bright blue from within. At their leaders screech the rest of their ilk opened fire with what appeared to be their own arms, the biological weapons spewing a deadly hail of red streaming bullets. Shepard and Athiel took cover behind a downed slab of rock, breaking cover every now and then when an opportunity presented itself. Where Shepard's pistol wounded on the first shot and finally managed to put them down on the third, Athiel's destroyed them entirely, the alien weapon reaping a bloody tally among the enemy. It wasn't long before they had dealt with all the remaining monstrosities.

"Shepard, Athiel, over here." Called out Anderson, while his pronunciation of Athiel's name was somewhat rudimentary, it seemed he was getting the hang of it.

Shepard and Athiel made their way back over to where Anderson was having a word with the two Marines.

"Can you tell us what happened here Soldier?" he asked the men. The man tending to his friend, as if only now realised who he was actually talking to, managed a quick salute before speaking.

"Our gunship got shot down by a squadron of those small fighters sir, we couldn't shake them. We barely made it out with our lives before those things showed up, haven't moved since." he said.

"That's ok soldier, no one's blaming you. Have you got a radio? We have to get in contact with our ship." asked Anderson. The soldier hesitated at first, looking over his shoulder at the wreckage of his gunship.

"Not here now but there's one in at the gunship, we tried to get a call out before we were spotted. It's going to be crawling with those thing over there though." he said, a little surprised when it seemed that the Admiral planned to go get it.

"Just stay here while we go son, we'll get you out of here soon." reassured Anderson. He was helped be Shepard to lift the metal beam off from the downed Marines leg, eliciting a shout of pain when the pressure was relieved. When they let go of the beam it fell back down into the water below creating a narrow walkway across to main debris island.

"Let's get going, we have to get to the radio at the gun ship, it's our only way of contacting the Normandy now." said Anderson before he made his way across, checking to see if it was safe before ushering Shepard and Athiel across. They were coming up to a corner when their gaze was drawn upwards. An Alliance Gunship, much like the crashed vessel not thirty meters from them, shot across the sky whilst being pursued by what appeared to be a massive winged insect, heavily upgraded with reaper tech and managing to keep pace with its mechanical prey. Rounding a corner they quickly had to dive for cover to avoid being seen by another group of what soon be known as Cannibals.

"What are those thing? They look disgusting." muttered Anderson, not really expecting a reply and was surprised when he got one from Athiel.

"I fear they are most of what remains of the Batarian race. They were the first to feel the cold sting of the Reapers." he said. Shepard couldn't think of a worse fate, being controlled and used as sick puppets for the Reapers. It almost made him wish he had blown up more of them when he destroyed the Mass Relay to stop the advance of the Reapers, surely that would have been a better fate than this.

"Poor bastards." he whispered to himself.

"No time for speculation, we have to move now and get to that radio." said Anderson before he opened fire on the Cannibals, Shepard and Athiel following suit quickly, dropping them swiftly with well placed shots. It wasn't long before all of the Cannibals in the immediate area were dead. Anderson quickly made his way over to the radio and began to enter a series of codes. Shepard on the other hand managed to salvage an M-8 Avenger from the wreckage, checking the clip before readying the weapon. Athiel didn't fail to miss the grin that was now played out on Shepard's features.

"Normandy, come in, this is Anderson. Do you read?" he said whilst fiddling with the radio controls, trying to boost the signal strength. Ashley's voice was soon heard over the radio, and for once it was free of the random bursts of static and distortion.

"Admiral, we read you, what's your location, we'll come pick you up." she asked insistently.

"We're by a downed gunship in the harbour, it's hard to miss. You better send support we've got a few wounded here that need Mede-vac now. I'm activating the beacon now." Anderson said quickly. Their luck with the radio was not to last as any reply Ashley attempted was cut off once more by static.

"God damn it. Lieutenant? Are you still there? Damn, I lost the signal, nothing I can do from here anymore." said Anderson sadly.

"I really hope that beacon manages to do its job." said Shepard and Anderson nodded in agreement.

"It better," said Athiel, pointing upwards to the sky. "We don't have a whole lot of time to spare." he said. His statement was met with a group of falling balls of fire streaking through the sky towards just north of their position. All three of them took cover quickly, covering all approaches.

"How's everyone going for clips? If we've got a fight coming I want to know what we've got left." asked Anderson as he checked how many spare clips he had.

"I've only got two or three shots left on my pistol, Shepard, as you've managed to procure the biggest gun you could find, would you mind handing me your pistol?" joked Athiel. Shepard managed a laugh before tossing Athiel his Predator pistol, not needing it so much now that he had the familiar weight of an Avenger in his hands. Athiel's face quickly turned from that of a jokers to utterly serious in an instant.

"Don't waste your shots Shepard. You're going to need them, only take shots that you know will put down an enemy, and aim for the head, It's the only place you'll do much damage." he said, Shepard and Anderson quickly nodded in assent.

It wasn't long before all hell broke loose. The smoking balls of fire bell from the sky and impacted heavily on the island of debris. From within their violent re-entry spewed forth numerous Cannibals, it seemed like there was no end to them, they came from everywhere, hell they were even crawling out from underneath the rubble. For every one they killed two more stepped up to take its place, the combined fire of their hideous weapons soon turned into a violent storm of bullets, giving the three men very few moments to take shots. It seemed they would soon be overwhelmed.

"What the hell!" Shepard yelled over the loud bark of gunfire. "Did the Reapers bring the entire Batarian Hegemony with them?" he asked to no one in particular. Things were getting desperate before their prayers were answered.

"The cavalry is here gentlemen." came a voice over the radio, one Shepard knew all too well.

Looking up, the trio was granted a magnificent sight. The Normandy descended from the heavens themselves, opening up with here missile batteries scouring the debris island clean of Cannibals in one fell swoop. It flew overhead before coming around gracefully, displaying here new colours of white and a brilliant blue, the Normandy was finally back home with the Alliance.

"It's about god damn time." exclaimed Anderson. Shepard could only wordlessly agree.

"Come on, let's get out of here." he said before starting to rush towards a large raised up beam of metal that the Normandy seemed to be steering he cargo bay doors towards.

It was a quick run upwards as the doors opened revealing Ashley with a quartet of Marines in full combat armour sporting Avengers just like Shepard's.

Shepard was the first to make the leap, landing hard against the lowered ramp, Ashley quickly reached out and grabbed him to pull him back up. Athiel was next taking the leap easily and landing gracefully besides Sheapard.

"Who's this guy?" he heard Ashley call out to Shepard. Shepard turned and glanced and Athiel, noticing he was being watched before giving a warm smile.

"A friend." he said simply. When they all turned to see where Anderson was, they saw him standing casually on the end of the metal beam, only one small jump away from being on the Normandy.

"Shepard." he said with a small fatherly smile on his face.

"Come on Anderson, we're getting out of here!" yelled Shepard, suddenly distraught.

An Alliance shuttle flew past, opening its side hatch, Anderson nodding to the Marines inside before directing them with hand gestures back towards the two injured men they found on their way over.

"I'm not going Shepard, not this time." he said as he looked back at Shepard.

"You and I both saw those men back there. There's going to be millions more just like them, and they're going to need a leader, someone with knowledge of the Reapers, and from everything you've told me, I think I fit the bill."

"We're in this fight together Anderson, If you stay then I am too." shouted Shepard.

"You and I both know that it's a fight we can't win Shepard. Not without a lot of help. We would need every species and all of their ships to even have a fighting chance. Talk to the council son, convince them to help us, you have to." said Anderson. Shepard scoffed.

"What is they won't listen to me?" he asked.

"Then you dam well make them listen. Now go! Get out of here. That's an order." shouted Anderson. Shepard laughed.

"You must be forgetting things Anderson, I don't take orders from you anymore remember?" he said.

Anderson seemed to fiddle with something in his pocket before producing a set of well worn dog tags. He regarded them fondly before tossing them to Shepard.

"Then consider yourself reinstated, Commander." Shepard nodded in silent thanks to Anderson.

"You know this is what you have to do Shepard, only you can do it." said Anderson.

"I'll be coming back you know, and I'll have every goddamn fleet in the galaxy trailing behind me. Then we'll kick some Reaper ass I promise." he said, he turned around to walk off before turning back to face Anderson.

"Good luck Anderson, and don't die on me." he said warmly. Anderson let a small smile play across his face fleetingly.

"Same to you Shepard." said Anderson before he gave a quick salute and ran back down to join the Marines who were starting an evacuation. Athiel, Shepard and Ashley stood side by side, watching the evacuation take place. To say Athiel was surprised when he saw a small child, who couldn't have been over the age of ten, run from the nearby rubble and over towards one of the waiting shuttles would have been an understatement, and it seemed that Shepard was surprised as well. Surprised but happy as well. Athiel now understood why Shepard had been so poignant after Anderson had retrieved him after he went missing. He must have seen the child but was unable to convince him to come with them. The child looked up, noticing Shepard looking down on him and smiled in recognition. He had started to wave before it came.

From around the corner of one of the few remaining intact building in the area came a Reaper, albeit a much smaller Reaper, but a Reaper nonetheless. Tho boy looked up fearfully at the Reaper before hurrying into one of the nearby shuttles before it started to take off. The frontal portion of the Reapers body opened up revealing a glowing red orb. The shuttles barely made it off the ground before it started firing. The two shuttles were quickly blown clean out of the sky, the first disintegrating completely while the other crash landed deep into the harbour. The child didn't have any hope at survival.

Shepard staggered back, as if physically struck from the emotional turmoil seething within his head. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Athiel standing beside him, looking out at the Reaper as it continued to decimate everything around it.

"Let not death or fear stay your hand nor defeat your courage Shepard. The warrior who will prevail is the one that conquers these things, who becomes one with death as I have." he spoke sagely.

"Remember him Shepard, and above all else remember what you are fighting for and nothing will stand in your way." he said, finally looking Shepard in the eye. He gave him a pat on the back.

"Think on what I have said Shepard, seek me out if you need further guidance. I will always be there to listen." said Athiel before he disappeared off into the Normandy.

Shepard could only stand there, in the cargo bay long after the doors had been sealed shut, staring off blankly into nothing as the Normandy left Earth to the Reapers, hoping they would be back in time to save it.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Just wanted to thank everyone for their positive reviews, it's really nice to see it. I wanted to let you guys know that I have added images to my profile page, and that if anyone is wondering where the Naruto part of the story will come in that will all be explained in around 2 or 3 chapters because it isn't very relevant to the story at the moment. **

**One question about the story for you guys, would you like to have Athiel/Naruto as the last LIVING Eldar or would you like to see the Eldar as an active Species in the Mass Effect Universe? Let me know via PM please and with your reasons supporting your choice. **

**Cheers.**

Despite all options available to him, Athiel had decided to remain in the cargo bay, not wishing to intrude upon a ship he had not yet been given permission to walk about. He had watched Shepard for what seemed like hours. The Commander didn't move from the far end of the cargo bay for at least several minutes, obviously in deep thought and Athiel knew better than to interrupt on such private moments. It seemed that the other occupants of the cargo bay were thinking along the same lines. Ashley had taken it upon herself to check on the Normandy's armoury, disassembling and re-assembling a number of weapons before checking the integrity of the armouries collection of body armour. James, well, Athiel didn't know where he was, he hadn't seen him since boarding the Normandy.

It seemed Shepard had sorted his thoughts out for the time being because he finally managed to pull himself away from his rooted position. He made his way across the cold steel floor over towards Ashley, on his way his gaze fell upon Athiel, he gave a small nod of thanks before continuing on his way. Athiel smiled, it seemed Shepard had listened to what he had to say. Shepard and Ashley managed to trade a few words before James burst it.

"Could someone please tell me what the hell is going? Why isn't Anderson here and where the hell are we going?" he shouted to be heard. It seemed Shepard wasn't even going to listen to what James had to say, instead ignoring him to check on a newly laid out suit of N7 armour.

"Hey!" James shouted, obviously not wanting to be ignored. Shepard glanced over his shoulder at James, a slightly irritated look on his face.

"We're leaving." he said simply before turning away from James again. The look of shock on James' face almost made Athiel laugh.

"Leaving?" he repeated incredulously. Ashley looked ready to join the conversation.

"What's going on Shepard, what are we doing?" she asked, trying to defuse the argument between the two.

"Anderson asked us to go to the Citadel, we can't do this alone, we need their help." said Shepard as he looked over at Ashley.

"That's bullshit, Anderson wouldn't order us to leave, he'd want us to stay and fight!" shouted James, getting closer and closer to Shepard, fists clenched.

"We don't have any choice James. If we do not seek and gain help then we may as well give up the fight now, we can't do it alone." said Athiel as he made his way over to the trio. Both Ashley and James looked over to Ahtiel, the former regarding him curiously while the latter bristled.

"Who the hell are you?" James yelled. Veins began to pop up on his skin, his fists clenched and his breaths came in quick, strong bursts. He was ready to strike. Athiel seemed to smile.

"My name is Athiel Nwaen, and while I would prefer you to call me that I'm not sure that you simple brain would be able to wrap itself around saying it. Call me Naruto if you cannot bring yourself to speak my native name. I speak the truth when I say we cannot win this fight without help, as the old human saying goes, divided we fall, together we stand." James looked ready to leap the 2 meter gap between himself and Athiel to get his hands on him for the thinly veiled insults.

"He's right James and you know it. Now isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Pull yourself together and follow Anderson's orders." reasoned Shepard, clearly wanting to avoid any confrontation between the bulky James and the lithe Athiel, to be completely honest, he was worried for the muscled giant. Though for all his efforts, Shepard's attempts at calming down James worked about as well as if he had thrown a water balloon into a roaring fire.

"Forget this shit! You better drop me off somewhere otherwise I'll take the shuttle cause I'm not leaving!" shouted James. Shepard was quick to reply, getting within James' personal space quickly, pointing an accusing finger towards him.

"Enough! You think I don't want to stay too? You think I don't want to be down there right now with Anderson fighting the Reapers? I've only been on the Normandy for little under 20 minutes and I'm already sick of hearing you bitch." said Shepard with conviction. All of James' previous flare was thrown own in the face of Shepard's quiet yet fearful wrath.

"We ARE going to the Citadel James, and if you don't like Anderson's orders then you can get a ride back from there because we're leaving." said Shepard before turning away, letting James storm off to the other side of the cargo bay to what looked like his living quarters.

Athiel remained silent during the whole engagement between Shepard and James, watching with a critical eye. They way Shepard had dealt with James, forceful yet non violent. He had made a man close to twice his size falter and stand down. It was the way a true leader dealt with insubordination. Athiel was beginning to understand how Shepard had made such a fearsome reputation for himself. As Athiel made his way closer, Shepard turned and regarded him.

"Do you think I was too rough on him? He didn't seem to take it too well." he said. Athiel glanced over to where James had ended up, using his pent up aggression on exercises.

"I've learnt that that is the only way someone like James can be reasoned with, he's been a soldier for most of his life, fighting is all he knows, it is completely alien to him to be leaving a fight behind. He has been lost on the Path." said Athiel. Shepard looked confused at what he could tell was a cultural reference.

"Lost on the Path? What does that mean." he asked. Athiel now sported an ear to ear grin.

"Oh sorry about that, you don't know what I'm talking about do you? To my people, the Path was what defined their lives, once you were set on a Path you could not leave it until it has been mastered. There are many Paths, the one which both you and James walk is considered as the Path of the Warrior and he has become lost upon it. To my people he would have been known as an Exarch, he cannot leave the Path because his mind is shut to all else. He would have been met with a very high level of respect, even if he didn't deserve it." explained Athiel, though there was still one thing that irked Shepard.

"Why do you keep referring to your people in past tense, what happened to them." he asked, not knowing the scope of the issue he was walking straight into. Athiel's face quickly changed from happy to solemn, it was clear that it wasn't a subject that sat well with him.

"They died Shepard, they've all been dead for a long time now Shepard. I am all that remains of my people Commander." said Athiel, his gaze not meeting Shepard's. They all died, a long time ago? Athiel was all that remained of his people? It didn't make any sense to Shepard. How could they have died a long time ago but Athiel still remained. It was a question he was set to ask but Athiel raised a preventing hand.

"I do not have the time required to explain it to you Shepard, not now. I said to you that you could ask any and as many question as you liked when we had a lapse in the fighting, we are not out of it for the time being yet." said Athiel, pointing towards an idle holographic display not three feet behind Shepard. The Commander was about to inquire as to what Athiel meant when the hologram lit up.

"Commander, you there?" came a voice over the Cargo bays speakers. The look of recognition on Shepard's face was almost instantaneous.

"Joker that you up there?" he asked happily.

"You bet it Commander, who else would they let fly this baby, not that I'd let them get anybody else." came the reply from the Normandy's comedic pilot.

"God Joker, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice again. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again after the Brass locked me up." said Shepard. Laughter could be heard from the other end of the line.

"Yeah, I know what you mean Commander. Look, I've got a priority transmission from Admiral Hackett gettin' all warm up here, you want me to patch him through to you down there?" asked Joker, already knowing the answer he was going to get.

"Sure, patch him through Joker." Not a moment later, a blurry and contorted image of Admiral Hackett cam onto the small screen.

Athiel wasn't close enough to hear the entire conversation between Shepard and Hackett, but he could make out fragments of the dialogue. They would be going to Mars, to the Prothean archives. There they would meet with Dr. T'soni, who Athiel could only guess was Liara T'soni, former squad mate of Shepard on the original Normandy.

"Joker. I need you to set a course for the Mars archives, and make it fast, we don't have much time." said Shepard.

"Mars?" cam the confused reply from Joker. "Business or pleasure Commander?" he asked jokingly. Shepard managed a small laugh.

"Business as always Joker, you of all people should know that I never have enough time for pleasure. Galaxy to save and all that." said Shepard.

"Good. Just making sure you weren't going to, you know, set up a few beach chairs, make a couple of margaritas and just wait for all this to blow over." replied Joker, as one of the UT-47 Kodiak shuttles was moved along its railings to be made ready for launch. Shepard looked over at Athiel.

"You said we weren't out of the fighting yet. You said that you didn't have time to explain yet. How could you have possibly known that?" he asked. Athiel sighed.

"It is both a gift, and a curse." he said.

"For what?" asked Shepard. Athiel looked him squarely in the eyes.

"For being what I am." said Athiel before walking off behind a few shipping crates, out of sight from prying eyes. Shepard had to except the answer he got, still not understand what the enigmatic and still unknown alien meant by his strange choice of words. He knew that he would have plenty of questions for him when the time came. He made his way over to a long table covered in weapons and pieces of armour when Ashley decided to speak up.

"Who, or better yet, what is that Shepard? There's something about him that makes my skin crawl." she said, shuddering slightly as if to prove her point.

"His name is Athiel Nwaen Ash, but he said we could call him Naruto if we can't pronounce his native name. He said that he is the last of his race, whatever they were. Apparently he came to Earth to try and help me warn everyone about the Reapers, he showed up at the committee meeting, just materialised out of thin air." said Shepard.

"Yeah, well I don't like it at all. He seems like he's got something to hide." replied Ashley. Shepard looked over in the direction that Athiel had gone off too, noticing a soft red glow coming from behind a shipping crate on the far side of the cargo bay.

"I'm sure he has a lot more than that to hide, but I think we can trust him. After all, it's not like he's indoctrinated or anything, I mean, he helped Anderson and I fight our war through a horde of Reaper troops to get to the Normandy, he had plenty of chances to just shoot us in the back and leave us to die." said Shepard, though Ashley didn't seem as convinced.

"That's all well and good Commander but I'll have to see it before I believe it. What are we going to do with him though?" asked Ashley and Shepard had to admit that she asked a good question, a question he himself hadn't thought about yet.

"Well I guess we'll have to take him to see the council and I know that Alliance laws state that contact with a new species is to be met as if hostile but I won't do that to him, not until he does something that could endanger out mission. Besides, Liara is at the archives, just wait until she gets a hold of him. She'll end up having an overload of questions, but I have to admit that I'll more than likely be there with her, I've got a few questions of my own." said Shepard.

"Whatever you say Skipper, I'll accept your judgement. I've got to go get ready but I'll be ready for deployment whenever you are Shepard." said Ashley before giving a mock salute and making her way over to a changing area.

Shepard looked over the set of equipment on the table in front of him. A well worn Canifex Hand Cannon, a snub nosed Locust sub-machine gun, taken directly from the vault of Donavan Hock, a former illegal arms dealer that Shepard helped Kasumi Goto take out almost a year ago. Next to the Locust was the imposing shape of a gunmetal grey Incisor sniper rifle but it was what sat beside it that drew the entirety of Shepard's attention.

His pride and joy, a weapon that had saved the lives of Shepard and his squad mates many times over. Sitting next to the Incisor was the, in Shepard's opinion, pinnacle of Assault Rifle technology, the M-96 Mattock. It's lightweight yet durable design was perfect for someone of Shepard's particular skill set. The accuracy of a sniper rifle yet the stopping power of a small shotgun, it's high calibre rounds could tear through an enemies shields in the first or second shot, you NEVER needed a fourth.

The Mattock's original desert camouflage had been stripped bare and repainted jet black, its side scratched back down to its bare steel in places, denoting a number of kills of worth. Contrasting the deep black were haphazard beads of dull red light, a built in armour piercing system capable of sending the rifles deadly payload through the plating of most small tanks and shuttles, the affect on bare flesh was gruesome. The right side of the weapon had even had a white backed red stripe painted along it, to match Shepard's infamous suit of N7 issue armour.

"That's a very nice gun Shepard, I can see you take great pride in its up keep." came a voice from behind Shepard. Said man turned to see something that would live on in his memory forever.

Athiel stood there, watching intently as Shepard reminisced over his newly reunited weapon, but it was not the simple fact that Athiel was standing behind him that left him breathless, it was what he was wearing.

Athiel was garbed in what was possibly the most beautiful merging of warfare and art that Shepard had ever seen. In keeping with his build, Athiel wore a suit of form fitting armour plates that almost seemed to float on a tight black body suit. The plates themselves were a deep black and an eerie yellowish bone colour sporting vibrant patterns of gold on their surface and once again his neck and lower jaw was hidden by bulky, almost out of place, pieces of armour.

Sweeping shoulder pads were home to numerous red gem stones, set into the armour pieces themselves and dangling with small, golden effigies that looked almost religious in nature, strange symbols, what they represented however, Shepard would be hard pressed to say. Clasped around his waist by a bright red gemstone was a tabard of bone white material. A rope of glittering gold held various crystals and a small leather pouch. Almost draping his shoulders was the mane of some long extinct, grey-white beast and flowing out, from seemingly within, was a long cloak of black material, its surface was etched with symbols that seemed to be both arcane and religious.

Four vanes of what Shepard would only describe as both bone in colour and substance flowed gracefully from the back of Athiel's armour, keeping the cloak help in place. The vanes ended at a rounded point, glittering, semi-permeable gemstones that seemed to catch what meagre light was shining in the cargo bay and use it to brighten itself, like miniature suns. His golden blonde hair had been tied cut somewhat revealing his elongated ears more prominently, now showing that they were both pieced in multiple places.

Though it was Athiel's face that startled Shepard, what used to be flawless and immaculately clean now sported five jagged red lines under his right eye, like a wild animal had scratched him violently. What unnerved Shepard the most about them was that they didn't appear to be painted on for effect, but that they seemed natural, like they had always been there.

Clasped at his waist in an exquisite sheath was a sword, which appeared to be leaps and bounds further advanced than those he used back on Earth. In his right hand he carried a long barrelled black and gold rifle. It's elegant curves made Shepard's Mattock look like a junkyard bull dog in comparison. It had a long stock and a strange, cylindrical sight attached. Small golden trinkets along with a bone white piece of cloth hung from whatever strange material it was made from, it looked like it was made from the same material as his armour.

Shepard was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say. Before him stood what he could only describe as what seemed to be a King, the intricacies and elegance of his choice of armour spoke volumes of what his people's culture must have been like, to go to war in what appeared to be ceremonial armour. Recovering as quickly as he could, Shepard laughed, hoisting his rifle onto his shoulder and patting it reverently.

"Oh, this old girl? Yeah, she served me quite well in my fight against the Collectors, I felt that I owed it to her to give her a good makeover. She's probably saved my life more times than I would care to remember. I call her 'Betty'." said Shepard as he lowered the gun and pointed out the word _Betty_ etched into the guns surface in fine, cursive script. Shepard gestured to the rifle in Athiel's hand, clearly curious due to its strange design.

"I've never seen a weapon quite like that before, what exactly does it do?" he asked. Before Athiel had a chance to reply, James barged into the conversation. James himself wore almost overly large, grey-blue armour, an Avenger in one hand and an Alliance standard issue breather helmet in the other.

"I bet it couldn't even chip the paint off a Salarian's dinner plate. I've seen shotguns bigger than that rifle." he said, his choice of words and tone of voice evidently condescending. Athiel closed his eyes and seemed to visibly shudder from the words, his rage building. James, ignorant of the danger stepped closer to Athiel.

"And don't even get me started on the pansy ass armour. It looks like a piece of wet tissue paper, the turbulence on the Kodiak could shake it apart." said James in between laughs. Shepard was about to give James a few words of warning but it was too late, James had already invaded Athiel's personal space and had managed to insult him twice already. The surrounding air suddenly dropped several degrees, Shepard's breath perceptible in front of him. Small, strange bursts of red electrical energy danced across Athiel's gauntleted hand, creating eerie crackling noises as the unknown energy came into being, fuelled by Athiel's building range. The strange marking on his face sparkled with a strange, red bio luminescence, flaring up and casting intimidating shadows about the cargo bay, given free rein in the sudden absence of lighting.

Faster than Shepard could see, Athiel's hand shot up, grabbing James by the throat and lifting him off of the ground with ease.

"So arrogant, so self righteous you are. Yet for all of your bragging and boasting you are blind to all else around you. It was people like you that let this happen, they refused to believe Shepard because they thought themselves above such threats, that they were the ravings of a mad man, ancient children's tales. You shall forever be Mon-keigh, ignorant to the happenings around you." bellowed Athiel, his voice given an unearthly backing from seemingly now where, its deep, primordial force utterly shocking Shepard. James looked terrified, all of his bravado lost in the face of such fury.

"You can disrespect me, but when you disrespect the arts of my people, that is something I will not stand for James. This will be your first and ONLY warning, and if you persist in your disrepute of my people than you will learn the depths of my hatred and scorn." said Athiel, giving James a final pitying look before dropping him onto the cold steel floor, hard. Whatever force was hampering the lights in the cargo bay was gone and the light flooded back in a violent torrent, washing away the other-worldly shadows like a tsunami. The strange glow that had just been emanating from within the markings on Athiel's face was all but gone, fleeing back to its place of origin.

It seemed that Athiel had finally calmed down, and as if just realising what he had done, now wore a solemn face again.

"I'm sorry for my outburst Commander," he said, looking over at Shepard. "Sometimes my anger gets the better of me, again I apologise, but I did mean what I said," this time he looked down at James, still sprawled on the ground, too scared to rise yet. "I hope that he will learn from my words."

"It's fine Athiel, I can't really fault you for defending the honour of your people now can I?" asked Shepard, before glancing at Athiel's weapon.

"Although I am a little curious about your armaments, how exactly do they work?"

Athiel glanced down at his weapons, smiling slightly.

"I guess there's no harm in telling you now is there?" he laughed. "My rifle, it is called a Tuelean, or Shuriken Catapult, and it uses a solid core of ammunition." he explained as he detached the clip from his rifle and slid out a solid bar roughly the same shape as the clip. It appeared to be made of the same strange material as the rest of Athiel's weapons and armour.

"If it uses a solid ammunition core how does it fire?" asked Ashley, cautiously joining the conversation and choosing her words carefully, not wanting to be on the receiving end of another one of Athiel's outbursts.

"Ah, that is where the rifles true magic is shown. When the rifle is fired, the weapons built in gravatic accelerator fires forward at lightning quick speeds, both slicing and hurling a razor sharp monomolecular-edged disk of plasti-crystal. The accelerator itself moves at such speeds that one clip can fire up to and over 100 shots before running dry on its ammunition core. The only drawback is that the rifles range is not as great as its rate of fire, though it is accurate up to 150 feet, more or less." explained Athiel almost casually.

Both Shepard and Ashley were in awe, the level of technological advancement just in Athiel's rifle far exceeded any infantry based weapon the Alliance had available to them. If Athiel's people were this advanced in the field of warfare, then how advanced were they in medical science or space travel?

"What about the sword? Surely it is just for ceremonial decoration, what enemies would you need to use it against? Pretty much everyone in Citadel space and the Terminus systems use guns, well except the Krogan I guess." asked Ashley, curious as to why someone with weaponry so advanced would need a bladed weapon.

Placing his hand on the gemstone pommel of the sword, Athiel smiled warmly as if reminiscing past experiences with the weapon.

"You wouldn't believe how many times this blade has saved my life. In the past my people faced many different foes, all of them differed in their style of warfare, some favoured long range weapons while others would seek dominance of the skies. Though we found that the greatest of all foes were the ones that combined all three forms of warfare, long range, air dominance and close combat. When your foe gets close, I would much rather have a blade with me than having to resort to bludgeoning then with my rifle." he explained.

"And what about your armour, it seems a little, well, small, no offence meant of course." queried Shepard, in the process of donning his own armour.

"Ah yes, my armour is made out of a substance my people came to call wraithbone. It is shaped by our very minds, with the right training it can be bent to your very whim, it can take any shape you can imagine, and in the hands of one of my people, it is near indestructible. When I wear this armour, any non fatal damage can be repaired, not by me but by the armour itself." said Athiel, seeing that Shepard and Ashley clearly did not understand.

"Ok you need a demonstration, I understand." he said as he moved over to a nearby table and procured a Predator pistol before handing it to Ashley.

"Shoot me." he commanded. "Shoot me in the chest."

"W-What? You want me to shoot you? Why?" stammered Ashley, not understanding.

"I'm just going to give you a demonstration, just shoot me once in the chest, don't worry the armour will hold I promise." he said. Ashley shakily looked over to Shepard as if asking for permission, she was given a small, almost unsure nod to continue. She raised the pistol up, aiming for Athiel's chest and when given a small smile by him, she fired.

The pistol roared into life, firing its deadly payload straight for Athiel's armoured chest. The round hit home just above the gemstone in the centre of his chest plate, biting a very short distance into the bony material before bouncing back and falling to the floor, bent and broken. Shepard and Ashley could only stare in amazement as the dented piece of armour began to night itself back together again, strange and tiny crystalline particles grouping together to bridge the gap, looking something akin to a snowflake forming.

"You see, the armour is both literally and hypothetically bonded to the user, when it is damaged it draws upon the users power to repair itself. This suit of armour is one of the most advanced designs my people ever produced, the very molecules of the armour group together at the point of impact, hardening the surface incredibly." explained Athiel. Once again Shepard was amazed by the technological advancement of Athiel's race, to be able to control the molecules of the armour to give it a self repairing quality was simply astounding. His mind still racing at the thought of what other technological amazements Athiel's people possessed when he finished putting on his armour.

"Well, is everybody ready to go? We need to get down to the archives and see what they found down there." he asked to his team. Ashley had now donned a suit of vibrant blue, standard issue Alliance armour whilst James had finally managed to bring himself to come back to the group, still both embarrassed and scared at his previous encounter with Athiel.

"We are ready Commander, we have to hurry before the Reapers get here, I'm sure at least one of them noticed our escape of Earth." said Athiel as he re checked all of his weapons.

"All right then, let's get going." said Shepard as he stepped into the confines of the nearby Kodiak, Ashley and James quickly following, Athiel remained in the cargo bay for a moment, staring down at the surface of the red planet below with a small smile of his face before following the rest of the team onto the shuttle.


	4. Notice Of Adoption

It is with a heavy heart and much regret that I have to announce that I will not be able to continue the writing of Last Days Of The Eldar, as well as my other crossover Naruto Uzumaki And The Philosopher's Stone, due to a heavily increased workload both inside and outside of school life. HSC exams are horse shit just so you know :P

What I hope to accomplish with this short post is to let all my followers and reviewers know that I am opening both of my stories to adoption to any interested party, though it will not be a first come first served type of affair. I don't mean to offend anyone but I would very much like to leave the story in the hands of someone who can match the quality of the story now or to hopefully improve upon it.

Though my studies keep me from actively writing the fiction I would still like to know what is going on with it's development, I would gladly Beta the story as well if the adoptee would like that.

So if you are interested please email me, not PM as email is more efficient, a sample of writing or the link to a story you have posted on this site to josh_matherxx1xx


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